Blood & Rebirth

THE NAMES of two young Franciscan martyrs are being remembered in Peru this August: Father Zbigniew Adan Strzalkowski, 33, and Father Michal Tomaszek, 31.

The two friars were living in Pariacoto, on the western side of the Cordillera Negra, a mountain rangewhich runs perpendicular to the Andes in an east-west direction from Mocho-Choshuencovolcano to Cerros de Quimán. Pariacoto is perched at an altitude of 1,000 meters in an idyllic natural landscape bathed by a perennial sun.

The area is inhabited by a poor, indigenous population deeply rooted in Christianity. For over forty years, the people of Pariacoto had gone without the assistance of a local priest until, in 1989, three Polish friars form the Conventual Franciscan Order arrived and established a vibrant Christian community.

This, however, did not go down well with the Communist revolutionaries which in those years infested much of Latin America. In particular, the three friars were despised by the Communist revolutionary movement known as Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), which saw religion as the greatest enemy of humanity.

On the evening of August 9, 1991, a commando of some 20 guerrillas stormed into the mission and kidnapped two of the friars, Zbigniew and Michal. Through an extraordinary coincidence, the superior of the mission, Father Jarek Wysoczanski, was in Poland at the time for family reasons.

The two prisoners were taken to the centre of the town, subjected to a sham trial, sentenced to death, and then were taken to a secret location where they were shot and killed.





 

Place of pilgrimage

 

Numerous events are being held in Pariacoto to commemorate the two Franciscan martyrs this August. Their bodies are buried in the parish church, which has become a place of pilgrimage where people also come to beseech graces. Commemorative events, however, are also being held in other cities across Peru. For instance in Lima, the capital, a conference will be held on 4-5 August, with lectures, music and a theatrical company of Christian actors performing a musical which recounts the story of their martyrdom.

The story of the two Franciscan martyrs has entered the collective consciousness of the people of Peru, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to collect reliable information on the last days of the two martyrs and the circumstances of their deaths. For this reason this journalist approached a most reliable source of information, Father Jarek Wysoczanski, the superior of the two martyrs who knew them better than anyone else, but who was not present during their martyrdom.

Friar Jarek, who was in Rome when I interviewed him, was only too glad to enlighten our readers about his two brothers.

 

Zbigniew Strzalkowski

 

Father Jarek, 20 years have passed since your brothers were killed. What memory do you have of them?

I still feel them very close to me, helping me in my daily work as a friar. We worked together for so long, we were full of enthusiasm and joy for what we were doing in that far-off land.

 

How does it feel to miss out on being a martyr by pure chance?

At first I had guilt feelings for not being there during that great test. I kept asking myself why the Lord had decided to spare me, and had come to the conclusion that He had not found me worthy of this honour. My two brothers were certainly better than I was. I went through feelings of discouragement, doubt and loss of confidence. Eventually, however, I came to understand that God had other plans for me. Maybe he simply wanted me to bear witness to their extraordinary zeal and courage.

 

What can you tell us about your two brothers?

They were full of enthusiasm and love for God, and were burning with zeal for their mission of evangelising the indigenous people of Peru.

Friar Zbigniew was a man of few words, but very active. We attended high school together and we were also in the Franciscan seminary together. He was fond of studying, one of the best in the class, and he also had great love for the natural world; he was a passionate ecologist.

In the mission he was very versatile. He acted as an engineer, a worker, a medical doctor, a nurse, an architect and even as a brick-layer at times! He was always on top of the situation.

Zbigniew had a passion for healing the sick; he was actually very good at it. Those in need of medical assistance were coming to him in increasing numbers. His generosity is still remembered in Pariacoto.

Another important initiative of his was the search for drinkable water. When we arrived in Pariacoto there was a drought, and the little water left was often polluted. This caused infective diseases, especially among children. Friar Zbigniew went on long walks along rocky trails, and in the end solved the problem by discovering and developing other springs.

 

Michal Tomaszek

 

And what about Friar Michal?

I first met Michal at the seminary where I also was studying. He was 16 at the time. Being younger than Zbigniew and myself, we only got to know him well when he joined our mission, which occurred a few months after we arrived. Friar Zbigniew and I had already gathered a community around us, and our first pastoral initiatives were already underway.

Michal was every inch the incarnation of simplicity. That same simplicity that was Francis’ ideal, and Jesus’ too, who says in the Gospel, “If you do not become as little children you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven”.

His benign presence soon left its mark on the mission. He loved community life and attended  silently to all those needs and necessities that appear insignificant, but which are, in actual fact, quite important in the day-to-day running of a community.

I had entrusted to him the education of children and young people, and he dedicated himself heart and soul to them. He was patient, helpful, friendly and cheerful. He was liked by everyone and, as a consequence, the young attended Mass in great numbers. Shortly before his death there were over 200 young people in his group. They were a boisterous lot, but once in church they became the picture of silence and discipline.

 

How was it that you were away from Pariacoto on that fateful August 9?

I was in Poland because I had to celebrate my sister’s wedding and also to participate in Pope John Paul’s apostolic visit to my homeland. The Pope, in fact, received word of the murder of my two brothers while he was in Krakow, and so decided to see me. He asked me for information, and was very grieved by the event as one who had lost some dear friends.

 

The dead city

 

Could you reconstruct their last day of life?

From the testimony of those who were with them, that day began like any other day.

As always, my brothers had woken up early to say their communal prayers in the convent chapel. Michal had planned to go on a spiritual retreat with a group of young people. He had chosen a secluded place, the city of Yungay, the so-called ‘dead-city’, because it had been completely destroyed by the earthquake of 31 May, 1970. The whole of the population of that city, some 25,000 souls, were crushed by the rubble. The government prohibited rescuers from extracting the bodies, and declared the area a national shrine and cemetery. On that day Michal took the young to meditate and pray there, and was scheduled to return by 7:00 pm for the Vespers Mass.

Zbigniew, instead, had remained behind in the convent to cater to the spiritual needs of those in town, particularly the sick.

 

Sendero Luminoso

 

Were you expecting reprisals from the guerrillas?

That was a bad period in the history of Peru. The guerrillas of Sendero Luminoso had already carried out numerous attacks against politicians, trade unionists and even against members of the clergy, but in Pariacoto we had never before received any specific threats or intimidations, so when I left for Poland I was quite reassured on that front, and their murder came as a complete surprise.

On that day people had noticed that strange things were happening in Pariacoto. Around midday Jolanda, our cook, went to Zbigniew to inform him that a group of ‘terrorists’ were in town.

In the past, the guerrillas had already visited Pariacoto, but none of our parishioners had ever told us of their previous visits. If Jolanda did so on that day, then it meant that this time she had heard voices, rumours, perhaps even threats. She informed Zbigniew, as though to advise him to leave. Zbigniew understood the situation, and knew that the veiled message from Jolanda meant that the danger was real. He certainly must have considered the situation, and then gave her a precise answer: “We have nothing to hide. If they come here, we’ll bear witness to the truth”.

Friar Zbigniew remained in the convent all day, and in the evening was joined by Friar Michal. Zbigniew must then certainly have informed him of the situation. They will probably have considered the situation together. Three young people who wanted to enter religious life had arrived with Michal, and Zbigniew told them to go to the chapel and not leave the place for whatever reason, then he decided to continue with the day’s plan as normal.

 

When did the guerrillas arrive?

At 7:00 pm Zbigniew celebrated evening Mass in the church, after which the usual Friday meetings with parish representatives took place. During the Mass, however, he was visibly apprehensive; he kept looking towards the church portal, as though expecting someone to enter at any moment, but nothing happened.

After Mass the groups gathered to discuss parish matters with the two Franciscan friars and Sister Berta, a courageous Peruvian nun who was helping them in their ministry. Around 8:00 pm the guerrillas arrived. They wanted to interrogate all those present, but Zbigniew told them that he, and he alone, was responsible for the community, and that therefore they should only talk to him. A heated discussion ensued, but in the end the guerrillas accepted, and allowed the others to leave. They then took the two priests and Sister Berta to the town centre.

A sham trial was instituted in the presence of a guerrilla commander and an ‘ideology’ commander. The two priests were accused of being ‘enemies of the people’ and were sentenced to death. Immediately after this they were taken to a place called ‘Pueblo Vejo’. During the trip there, Sister Berta was thrown out of the car, and was therefore able to save her life. Once they reached the place the guerrillas forced the two priests off the car and made them lie on the road, with their hands tied, and then shot them dead. They then wrote the absurd death sentence with the victim’s own blood on a piece of cardboard: Asì mueren los lames del imperialismo (Thus do the lackeys of imperialism die).

 

Seed of the Church

 

Was it a retaliation against the Catholic Church?

Oh yes, no doubt about it. It was a planned action to strike the Catholic Church. In fact the attacks did not end there, but continued in the following days.

During their funeral the guerrillas exploded bombs in Chimbote, where our bishop, Monsignor Luis Bambarén, resides.

On August 25, the guerrillas arrested an Italian priest, Alessandro Dordi, and slew him brutally.

A year after the death of my two brothers Abimael Guzmán Reynoso, leader of Sendero Luminoso, was apprehended. Bishop Bambarén visited him in prison and received from him the confirmation that the killings had been programmed as a retaliation against the Church and the Pope. “Guzman has asked me and the Church for forgiveness. He regrets the deaths of those priests,” Mosnsignor Bambarén declared. “He also confirmed that they were killed out of hatred for the faith because he believed that religion was the opiate of the people”.

On 13 October, 2006, Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison on charges of aggravated terrorism and murder; and is currently incarcerated in Callao in one of four subterranean cells.

 

At what stage is the beatification process of the two Franciscan friars?

The process is practically at its final stages. It was instituted in conjunction with that of Father Alessandro Dordi, who was killed only 15 days after my two brothers. The three martyrs have already acquired the title of ‘Servants of God’. Beatification is therefore pending.

Pariacoto remains a thriving Catholic parish. The heroic deeds of my brothers has only served to strengthen Christianity in Peru. Once again, Tertullian’s famous saying has demonstrated its value: The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.